Lighting system

ABSTRACT

A lighting system includes a power source, a switch, a time detecting circuit, a controlling circuit, a driving circuit and an LED lamp electrically connected together. The time detecting circuit could detect switching times and periods of the switch at an “on” and “off” positions, thereby producing corresponding signals to the driving circuit to lighten the LED lamp with different brightness levels.

BACKGROUND

1. Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to a lighting system and, moreparticularly, to a lighting system having compact electrical circuits.

2. Description of Related Art

LEDs have been available since the early 1960's. Because of therelatively high light-emitting efficiency of LEDs, LED usage has beenincreased in popularity in a variety of applications, e.g., residential,traffic, commercial, industrial settings. Each LED lamp must have acontrolling element, often in the form of a switch, to control operationstatus thereof. A typical switch is basic such that only two positionsthereof to be switchable, i.e., an “on” and “off” positions. The LEDlamp could be turn off or on according to manipulation of the switchbetween the “off” and “on” positions. However, with development incontrolling technology of lamps, nowadays more and more new functionsare incorporated into the switch to adjust various parameters of thelamp flexibly.

A most commonly used new function of the switch is to control thebrightness of the lamp. To achieve this, the switch is configured to bemultiplex so that the brightness of the lamp is adjustable betweendifferent levels in accordance with variation of the switch at differentpositions. For example, turning the switch to a first position wouldenergize the lamp with 100% brightness, and further turning the switchto a second position would reduce the brightness of the lamp to 60%, andetc.

Nevertheless, since each position of the switch corresponds to abrightness level of the lamp, the multiplex switch requires multipleelectrical pathways having the same number as the positions thereof,connected to these positions, respectively. That is to say, the morelevels of the brightness are achieved, the more electrical pathways aredesired. This adversely affects a normal arrangement of electrical wiresof the lamp, and causes the whole electrical circuit of the lampcomplicated.

What is needed, therefore, is a lighting system which can overcome theabove-mentioned disadvantages.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Many aspects of the present apparatus can be better understood withreference to the following drawings. The components in the drawings arenot necessarily drawn to scale, the emphasis instead being placed uponclearly illustrating the principles of the present apparatus. Moreover,in the drawings, like reference numerals designate corresponding partsthroughout the several views.

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of an LED of a first embodiment of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of an LED of a second embodiment of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of an LED of a third embodiment of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of an LED of a forth embodiment of thepresent disclosure, wherein only LED dies, phosphors, an encapsulant anda substrate of the LED are presented for clarity.

FIG. 5 is similar to FIG. 4, showing an LED of a fifth embodiment of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 6 is similar to FIG. 5, showing an LED of a sixth embodiment of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 7 is similar to FIG. 4, showing an LED of a seventh embodiment ofthe present invention.

FIG. 8 is a schematic, bottom view of an LED array of an LED lamp of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 9 is a schematic, cross-sectional view of another LED lamp of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 10 is similar to FIG. 9, but a button of the LED lamp beingremoved.

FIG. 11 is similar to FIG. 10, but a reflector of the LED lamp beingvaried to another configuration.

FIG. 12 is similar to FIG. 11, but two phosphor layers being coated onthe reflector of the LED lamp.

FIG. 13 is a block diagram of an LED power supply circuit connected tothe LED lamp.

FIG. 14 is similar to FIG. 13, but a sensor of the power supply circuitbeing replaced with a timer.

FIG. 15 is a brightness-time curve of the LED lamp controlled by thepower supply circuit of FIG. 14.

FIG. 16 is another time-brightness curve of the LED lamp controlled bythe power supply circuit of FIG. 14.

FIG. 17 is a block diagram of another power supply circuit connected tothe LED lamp.

FIG. 18 is a block diagram showing detailed electrical elements used inFIG. 17.

FIG. 19 is similar to FIG. 17, but a switch of the power supply circuitbeing replaced by a sensor.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring to FIG. 1, an LED of a first embodiment of the presentdisclosure is disclosed. The LED includes a substrate 110, an LED die120 bonded on the substrate 110, two golden wires 140 connecting the LEDdie 120 and an encapsulant 130 fixed on the substrate 110 and enclosingthe LED die 120.

The substrate 110 is made from a heat conductive and electricallyinsulative material, such as ceramic. Alternatively, for a low power LEDdie 120 which generates heat not too much, the material of the substrate110 can also be selected from some heat isolative and electricallyinsulative materials, such as epoxy. A central part of a top face of thesubstrate 110 is recessed downwardly to form a cavity 112. A bottom ofthe cavity 112 is configured to a flat surface so as to stably supportthe LED die 120 thereon. Two curved laterals of the substrate 110confining the cavity 112 are plated with a reflective layer (not shown)thereby to reflect as much light emitted from lateral sides of the LEDdie 120 as possible. Three metal posts 160 are inserted into thesubstrate 110 below the bottom of the cavity 112, wherein two lateralposts 160 are configured having a same size, and a middle post 160 has adiameter larger than that of each lateral post 160. Tops of the threeposts 160 are all coplanar with the bottom of the cavity 112 to beexposed within the cavity 112, thereby allowing the LED die 120 and thewires 140 bonded thereon, respectively. The two lateral posts 160 act astwo electrical leads to supply power into the LED die 120, while themiddle post 160 acts as a heat conductor to transfer the heat from theLED die 120 to an outside of the LED.

The LED die 120 is a semiconductor light emitting component made ofwell-known gallium nitride-based compound and capable of emitting bluelight having a short wavelength near 450 nm. The LED die 120 has a Ptype electrode 122 and an N type electrode 124 stacked on a top thereof.The P type electrode 122 is located higher than the N type electrode124. A bottom of the LED die 120 is bonded to the top of the middle post160 via a heat conductive epoxy resin 170 containing silver particulatestherein, whereby the heat generated by the LED die 120 can be conductedout of the LED through the middle post 160. Phosphor 150, in the form ofparticulates, is distributed around the LED die 120 within theencapsulant 130. The phosphor 150 is employed to emit light complementedwith that emitted by the LED die 120, generating light with desirablecolor. A composition of the phosphor 150 determines which color of lightthe phosphor 150 can emit. For a general illumination purpose requiringwhite light, the phosphor 150 of this disclosure employs garnetfluorescent materials activated with cerium, preferably,yttrium-aluminum-garnet fluorescent with cerium (generally creatingso-called YAG phosphor). It is noted that though the YAG is chosen asthe material of the phosphor 150 of this embodiment, other typematerials, such as silicate-based material may also be used. Thephosphor 150 absorbs the blue light emitted from the LED die 120 and isexcited to emit yellow light having a wavelength about 580 nm. Theoriginal blue light without contributing to the excitation of thephosphor 150, is blended with the yellow light excited by the phosphor150 to output resultant white light.

The two golden wires 140 are provided in the cavity 112 to electricallyconnect the LED die 120 with the posts 160. Each wire 140 has an endbonded to an electrode 122, 124 of the LED die 120, and another endfixed to a corresponding lateral post 160, thereby forming anelectricity conducting route between the LED die 120 and the posts 160.Each wire 140 is particularly configured to be spiral, so that the twowires 140 are presented as two small inductances between the LED die 120and the substrate 110. It is well known that a most importantcharacteristic of the inductance is to permit direct current flowingtherethrough and resist alternate current passing therethrough. When anabruptly varied current which is produced following a sudden electricalconnection of the LED with a power source (not shown), is introducedinto the LED, the abruptly varied current would be resisted by thespiral wires 140 and become more smooth. Compared with the abruptlyvaried current, such smoothly varied current is less harmful to the LEDdie 120, whereby the LED die 120 can be protected properly. Furthermore,the spiral wire 140 is more stretchy than the conventional curved wire,whereby the spiral wire 140 is less likely to be ruptured even whensubject to a large stress from the encapsulant 130 due to expansion orshrink of the encapsulant 130. Therefore, the LED incorporating thespiral wires 140 is able to work normally under a relatively severeenvironment.

The encapsulant 130 is made from light-permeable material such as glass,epoxy and silicon. The encapsulant 130 fills the cavity 112 in thesubstrate 110 to completely seal the LED die 120, the two wires 140 andthe phosphor 150 therein, protecting them from contamination or damage.The encapsulant 130 is further protruded upwardly out of the cavity 112to form a dome on the substrate 110, as a result functioning as a convexlens to collimate the diffused light from the LED die 120 into a spotlight.

FIG. 2 depicts an LED similar to that shown in FIG. 1. The onlydifference between the LEDs of FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 is that the two wires140 are wound around two columns 180 a integrally protruding upwardlyfrom the substrate 110, respectively. Each column 180 a is locatedbetween the LED die 120 and a corresponding lateral post 160, wherebythe top of the lateral post 160 can be substantially exposed for bondingof the wire 140 thereto. For a column wound by a metal wire, it is wellknown that the inductance of the wire is associated with a diameter ofthe column surrounded thereby, according to a formula given as

${L = \frac{\mu_{0}\mu_{r}N^{2}A}{l}},{{where}:}$

L presents the inductance of the wire, μ₀ presents the permeability ofvacuum, μ_(r) presents the relative permeability of the material of thecolumn surrounded by the wire, N presents the number of winding turns ofthe wire, A presents the cross-sectional area of the column, and lpresents the total length of the wire.

Since the inductance L is a direct quadratic ratio function of thediameter of the column 180 a (A=π*(D/2)², where D presents the diameterof the column 180 a surrounded by the wire 140), the inductance of thewire 140 can be varied by adjusting the diameter of the column 180 a. Inorder to obtain a large inductance of the wire 140 for more smoothlyvaried current flowing therethrough, the column 180 a can be made havinga large diameter. Further, another applicable means of enhancing theinductance L is to increase the relative permeability of the column 180a, which can be realized by replacing the integrally formed columns 180a with two separately iron columns (not shown). The substrate 110 mayform two recesses (not labeled) for insertion of the two iron columnstherein. Note that due to the iron columns being electricallyconductive, they can be combined with respective metal posts 160 to formtwo integral longer iron poles 160 b (see FIG. 3) extending into theencapsulant 130. The spiral wire 140 can be coiled around an upperportion of the pole 160 b and directly bonded to a circumferentialsurface of the pole 160 b.

The LED die 120 shown in FIGS. 1-3 is named laterally-structured LEDdie, since the two electrodes 122, 124 are located at a same top side ofthe LED die 120. However, another type LED die calledvertically-structured LED die (not shown) can also be used in thisdisclosure. The vertically-structured LED die has two electrodesrespectively located at a bottom and a top thereof. For thisvertically-structured LED die, only one wire 140 is needed since theelectrode at the bottom of the LED die can be directly bonded to thecentral post 160. In this case, the middle post 160 not only acts as aheat conductor but also an electrical lead, while one of the two lateralposts 160 can be removed for saving cost.

The disclosure further discloses a method for manufacturing the LEDshown in FIG. 2, including: 1) molding a substrate 110 with three metalposts 160 contained therein and two columns 180 a projecting upwardlytherefrom; 2) bonding ends of two wires 140 on two lateral posts 160; 3)winding the wires 140 around corresponding columns 180 a; 4) bonding anLED die 120 on a middle post 160 via a heat conductive epoxy resin 170;5) bonding other ends of the two wires 140 on two electrodes 122, 124 ofthe LED die 120; 6) coating a phosphor 150 around the LED die 120; and7) injecting a transparent material on the substrate 110 to form anencapsulant 130. Alternatively, the LED shown in FIG. 3 can also bemanufactured following the previous steps; however, a little changeshould be implemented in the steps 1)-4), that is, the two columns 180 aand the two lateral posts 160 are replaced by the two poles 160 b.

This disclosure also provides a multichip LED capable of emitting lightwith different color temperatures. It is well known that the colortemperature of light which is usually measured in Kelvin (k), is a valueassociated with people's subjective feeling about how warm or cold thelight seems like, rather than a real temperature of the light. In fact,it has been proved that the light used for general illumination nearlydoes not contain any heat. For an orange light or an orange-white light,people would feel warm though nearly no heat is included in the light.For a blue light or a blue-white light, people would feel cold, eventhough no heat is taken away from people by the light. In the relatedart, an acknowledged warm color has a value ranging below 3300 k, whilean acknowledged cold color has a value ranging above 5300 k.

For the LED employing the blue chip and the yellow phosphor to emitresultant white light, the number of the phosphor particulates in theencapsulant determines which color temperature the resultant white lightcan have, without changing the LED die. That is to say, different amountof phosphor particulates cooperation with a same LED die would result indifferent light with respective color temperatures. Referring to FIG. 4,there are two same LED dies 120 c provided with two different phosphors150 c. The two phosphors 150 c are distributed in the encapsulant 130with identical densities and different thicknesses. A left LED die 120cooperating with its thin phosphor 150 c emanates colder light, sincethe thin phosphor 150 c can only absorb little blue light emitted fromthe LED die 120 and be activated to emit little yellow light, which isblended with remaining much blue light to produce white light shiftingtoward blue (white-blue light). While a right LED die 120 cooperatingwith its thick phosphor 150 c emanates warmer light, since the thickphosphor 150 c can generate a large amount of yellow light. It is notedthat only necessary elements i.e., the substrate 110, the encapsulant130, the two LED dies 120 and the phosphors 150 c, are shown in FIG. 4,while other elements are all omitted for clarity.

Such direct coating of the phosphor 150 c on the LED die 120 may causean uneven distribution of the phosphor 150 c around the LED die 120,since it is difficult to accurately apply the phosphor 150 c on such asmall LED die 120, which often has a size less than 40 mil*40 mil*10mil. Therefore, a variation should be made to the LED for resolving theproblem. As shown in FIG. 5, the two LED dies 120 and respectivephosphors 150 c are enveloped by two first encapsulants 190 d, which arefurther enveloped by a second encapsulant 130 d. A left firstencapsulant 190 d has a size less than that of a right first encapsulant190 d, whereby the phosphors 150 c contained within the two firstencapsulant 190 d in same density would have different amounts. Thefirst encapsulant 190 d is molded on the substrate 110 prior to thesecond encapsulant 130 d so that the phosphor 150 c can be evenly dopedin the first encapsulant 190 d when the first encapsulant 190 d wasstill in melted condition and not molded on the substrate 110. Thesecond encapsulant 130 d is made from a light-permeable material equalto that of the first encapsulant 190 d, but without any phosphor 150 ccontained therein. Also, the material of the second encapsulant 130 dcan be different from that of the first encapsulant 190 d for a betterlight collimation, preferably, the second encapsulant 130 d could have arefractive index less than that of the first encapsulant 190 d. Beingdoped within the first encapsulants 190 d, the phosphors 150 c can beuniformly distributed around the LED dies 120, and the blue light andthe yellow light is thus mixed more evenly.

Alternatively, the phosphors 150 c can also be coated on outer surfacesof the two first encapsulants 190 d after the first encapsulants 190 dhas been cured and molded on the substrate 110 but before the secondencapsulant 130 d is molded on the substrate 110. The large size of thefirst encapsulant 190 d can insure an even distribution of the phosphor150 c on the outer surface thereof. As shown in FIG. 6, the differencebetween the sizes of the two first encapsulants 190 d determines thatthe phosphors 150 c attached on the outer surfaces of the two firstencapsulants 190 d still have different numbers of particulates even inthe case of same density and same thickness of the phosphors 150 c.

Further, the phosphors 150 c can be coated on the two LED dies 120 withdifferent densities but identical thickness, ensuring a differencebetween the amounts of phosphor particulates surrounding the two LEDdies 120. As shown in FIG. 7, the right LED die 120 is adhered with aphosphor 150 f more denser than that on the left LED die 120.Alternatively, similar to that shown in FIG. 6, the two phosphors 150 fhaving the same thickness but different densities can be applied onouter surfaces of two different-sized first encapsulants 190 d, andfurther sealed by a larger second encapsulant 130 d.

The two LED dies 120 of each LED illustrated in FIGS. 4-7 are controlledby respectively independent electrical circuits, wherein only one of thetwo LED dies 120 in each LED is selected to lighten each time, therebygenerating white light with a desired color temperature. Therefore, eachLED illustrated in FIGS. 4-7 can generate two lights with differentcolor temperatures at different times, respectively, to thereby meet auser's requirement. Furthermore, since the LED dies illustrated in FIGS.4-7 are only desired to be switched between an “on” and “off” states,not too complicated controlling element, such as a process, is necessaryfor realizing such switch between the two states. In fact, just a simplecontrolling circuit connected to the LEDs could have such function.Therefore, in contrast to the conventional RGB multichip LED, an LEDlamp using the LEDs shown in FIGS. 4-7 can have a lower cost.

The LEDs shown in FIGS. 4-7 can have adjustable color temperature byincluding two LED dies 120 in a single LED; however, due to relativelycomplication in manufacturing the multichip LED, it is still costly formanufacturing a single multichip LED than two conventional single-chipLEDs. Therefore, for an LED lamp requiring a low total cost as well asadjustable color temperature, a plurality of conventional single-chipLEDs which each have a predetermined color temperature, can be applied.

FIG. 8 shows an arrangement of six LED modules 220, 240 mounted within alamp enclosure (not shown) from a bottom aspect. Three first LED modules220 and three second LED modules 240 are alternately arranged in thelamp enclosure, wherein each first LED module 220 includes a pluralityof first LEDs 222 generating warm light, and each second LED modules 240includes a plurality of second LEDs 242 generating cold light. The threefirst LED modules 220 are electrically connected in series, and so dothe three second LED modules 240. The first LED modules 220 are furtherelectrically connected to the second LED modules 240 in parallelrelation so that the first LED modules 220 and the second LED modules240 are independently controlled. The LED lamp, which incorporates twodifferent types of LED modules 220, 240 therein and has only one type ofLED module 220 (240) lightening at each time, can satisfy a specificillumination requirement. For example, in winter when people wants toget warm, the LED lamp can be switched to just lighten the first LEDmodules 220; while in summer when people wants cool, the LED lamp can beswitched to just lighten the second LED modules 240. It is noted thatthe LED modules 220, 240 shown in FIG. 8 are all located in a commonlevel; alternatively, the LED modules 220, 240 can also be located atdifferent levels for obtaining various illumination patterns.

FIG. 9 illustrates another LED lamp using the LED modules 220, 240 ofFIG. 8. Different from the alternate arrangement of the LED modules 220,240 shown in FIG. 8, the first LED modules 220 are all mounted at a leftside and the second LED modules 240 are all mounted at a right side. TheLED lamp further comprises an L-shaped bracket 250 to mount the firstLED modules 220 and the second LED modules 240 on two mutuallyperpendicular arms 252 thereof. A knob 260 is provided at a joint of thetwo arms 252 of the bracket 250 and a center of a base 270 spaced fromthe bracket 250. The knob 260 pivotably interconnects the bracket 250and the base 270. In order to switch the LED lamp between a warm lightstatus and a cold light status, a button 272 is attached on a bottom ofthe base 270 and in electrical connection with the first LED modules 220and the second LED modules 240. A reflector 280 is fixed above andspaced from the bracket 250 for directing the light emitted from the LEDmodules 220, 240 downwardly. In operation, the first LED modules 220 andthe second LED modules 240 can be selectively powered by themanipulating button 272, thereby generating white lights with desirablecolor temperatures at different times. Further, the LED modules 220, 240can be pivoted around the center of the base 270 by rotating the knob260, thereby collimating a light beam which is reflected by thereflector 280 from the LED modules 220, 240 in a predeterminedorientation. Therefore, this LED lamp is able to simultaneously meet twotype illumination requirements, i.e., direction and color temperature.

In addition, the LED lamp of FIG. 9 can be further designed to anotherconfiguration for having an automatically color temperature switchedfunction. Referring to FIG. 10, the LED lamp shown therein is similar tothat shown in FIG. 9; what difference between FIG. 9 and FIG. 10 is thatthe button 272 is removed to be integrated with the knob 260. For thisLED lamp of FIG. 10, the color temperature is automatically variablefollowing variation of the orientation of the output light. Fordetermining a switching moment of the LED lamp between the warm lightstatus and the cold light status according to rotation of the outputlight, a critical angle is introduced. The critical angle is so employedthat at the time when the critical angle is reached, the operationstates of the first LED modules 220 and the second LED modules 240 willbe reversed. The critical angle is a special value selected from anangle θ between the right arm 252 of the bracket 250 and an optical axis(the imaginary line shown in FIG. 10) of the reflector 280. Preferably,the critical angle has a value of 45°, whereby the first LED modules 220and the second LED modules 240 are able to be controlled symmetrically.As rotation of the knob 260 to vary the angle θ between 0°˜45°, only thefirst LED modules 220 are turned on so that the LED lamp produces thewarm light; while the knob 260 is further pivoted to vary the angle θover 45°, the first LED modules 220 are turned off and only the secondLED modules 240 are turned on so that the LED lamp produces the coldlight.

Also, the critical angle can be chosen with other values, or morecritical angles can be defined, for meeting other various illuminationrequirements. FIG. 11 shows an LED lamp which has two critical angles.The LED modules 220, 240 of the LED lamp are powered only at the timewhen the two critical angles are achieved; in detail, the first LEDmodules 220 are lighten only the angle θ being positioned at 0°, and thesecond LED modules 240 are lighten only the angle θ being positioned at90°. The reflector 280 of the LED lamp is particularly configured havingtwo juxtaposed sub-reflectors 282. Each sub-reflector 282 has a concavereflective surface facing corresponding LED modules 220, 240, therebyreflecting as much light out of the LED lamp as possible when the LEDmodules 220, 240 are lighten at horizontal orientations.

Moreover, the LED lamp shown in FIG. 11 can be varied to a differentconfiguration as shown in FIG. 12, with the same functionality thereofbeing performable. The LEDs 222 g, 242 g of the LED modules 220, 240 aretypical blue LEDs which emit light in blue spectrum, while the twosub-reflectors 282 each forming a phosphor layer 284 correspond to theLED modules 220, 240. The amounts of phosphors 284 in the sub-reflectors282 are different from each other, whereby the blue light emitted fromthe LED modules 220, 240 would be converted to white light withdifferent color temperatures after the blue light stimulates thephosphors 284 to generate yellow light and mixes with the yellow light.Such separation of the phosphors 284 from the LED 222 g, 242 g canprovide more flexibility in adjustment of the color temperature, sincethe phosphor 284 directly coated on the sub-reflector 282 is moreaccessible compared with that sealed in the encapsulant 130.

Note that the typical LEDs 222, 222 g, 242, 242 g used in FIGS. 8-12 canalso be replaced by the LEDs shown in FIGS. 4-7 for more flexibleillumination, although the total cost of the LED lamp may increase.Further, top surfaces of the LED modules 220, 240 except the LEDs 222,222 g, 242, 242 g, can be coated with a reflective film (not shown) sothat the light incident on the top surfaces of the LED modules 220, 240from the reflector 280 can be reflected to the reflector 280 once more,increasing a light-outputting efficiency of the LED lamp.

On the other hand, for an outdoor LED lamp, a fully automatic control ismore desirable than the manual control described previously; to achievethis, a sensor may be electrically connected to the LED lamp toautomatically switch the LED lamp between the warm light status and thecold light status. Referring to FIG. 13, the sensor 320 is providedbetween a power source 310 and a controlling circuit 330 connected to adriving circuit 340, thereby cooperatively forming a power supplycircuit (not labeled) for the LED lamp 350. Although the sensor 320shown in FIG. 13 is connected between the power source 310 and thecontrolling circuit 330, any other locations in the power supply circuitis applicable for the sensor 320. The sensor 320 can measure anenvironment parameter outside the LED lamp 350 and then produce acorresponding signal into the controlling circuit 330. In response tothe signal, the controlling circuit 330 switches corresponding ones ofthe first LED modules 220 and the second LED modules 240 of the LED lamp350 on or off via the driving circuit 340, thereby to output desiredcolor temperature. The sensor 320 may be selected from different kindsof typical sensors; however, a temperature sensor or humidity sensor ispreferable in this disclosure. If the temperature sensor 320 is used,the color temperature of the light of the LED lamp 350 is variableaccording to the outside environment temperature. For example, when thetemperature sensor 320 measures the outside temperature below 15 degreescentigrade, it will produce a signal into the controlling circuit 330 tolighten the first LED modules 220 with warm light; when the temperaturesensor 320 measures the outside temperature equal to or above 15 degreescentigrade, another signal will be given to the controlling circuit 330to lighten the second LED modules 240 with cold light.

Also, the humidity sensor 320 connected to the LED lamp 350 can vary thecolor temperature of the LED lamp 350 in response to the humidity of theoutside environment. It is well known that a long-wavelength light has apenetration ability better than that of the short-wavelength light, inother words, an orange-shifted light can spread a distance longer thanthat a blue-shifted light can spread. For a good visibility, a warmerlight is much preferred in a rainy or fogged day due to a significantreduction of effect of water drops or particulates acting on the spreadlight. Therefore, the LED modules 220, 240 of the LED lamp 350 are inaddition selected to lighten in accordance with the humidity of theoutside environment, i.e., the first LED modules 220 are powered toproduce the warm light as the sensor 320 detecting fog or water, whilethe second LED modules 240 are powered to produce the cold light inother weather conditions.

For resolving a problem that the two type sensors 320 cannot besimultaneously used due to interference of the signals thereof, thecontrolling circuit 330 can be particularly devised to judge the twosignals from the two sensors 320 and select a corresponding signal toenergize the LED lamp 350. A result of operation status of the LED lamp350 under such particularly devised controlling circuit 330 is listedas:

The first The second Temperature Weather LED modules LED modules >15degrees fog or rain on off centigrade other off on <15 degrees fog orrain on off centigrade other on off

Besides being switchable between the warm light status and cold lightstatus, the LED lamp 350 is further designed automatically variable inbrightness thereof for saving energy. As shown in FIG. 14, this isrealized by connection of a timer 360 to the controlling circuit 330.The timer 360 is set to produce different continuous signals into thecontrolling circuit 330 at different times, thereby adjusting thebrightness of the LED lamp 350 in different periods per day. An exampleof a brightness-time curve of the LED lamp 350 is shown in FIG. 15:between 18:00˜24:00 when an amount of a traffic flow is high, the timer360 continuously produces a signal I to energize the LED lamp 350 with100% brightness; between 0:00˜6:00 when the amount of the traffic flowis low, the brightness decreases to a half thereof according to a signalII produced by the timer 360; while between 6:00˜18:00 when the sunshinebeing presented, the whole LED lamp 350 is turned off under a signal IIIof the timer 360. Such brightness-time curve 400 can satisfy theillumination demands of a subordinate street or road; however, for amain road or street where a traffic flow is still high even at latenight, some changes should be made to the brightness-time curve 400. Asreferring to the brightness-time curve 500 shown in FIG. 16, atransition brightness having a ratio of 80% is added following the 100%brightness of the LED lamp 350. The timer 360 produces a signal IV tothe controlling circuit 330 to lessen the brightness of the LED lamp 350to the 80% brightness during 0:00˜3:00 when the traffic is still busy,and then the signal II to further lessen the brightness of the LED lamp350 to the 50% brightness during 3:00˜6:00.

A light sensor (not shown) can be further connected to the controllingcircuit 330 for achieving an even greater energy saving; that is, whenthe light sensor detects the light projected from the headlight of avehicle (not shown) which is about to pass the LED lamp 350, the lightsensor will produce an instantaneous signal to the controlling circuit330 to turn the LED lamp 350 on temporarily; while at other times theLED lamp 350 remains off. In this case, the signals of the timer 360works together with the signals of the light sensor: the signals of thetimer 360 are accepted by the controlling circuit 330 only for apredetermined period (for example, 10 seconds) as soon as theinstantaneous signal of the light sensor is input to the controllingcircuit 330, whereby the LED lamp 350 would be energized to lighten theroad for the predetermined period; at other times when no signal isproduced by the light sensor, the signals of the timer 360 are rejectedby the controlling circuit 330 for keeping the LED lamp 350 off.However, the acceptability of the signal III of the timer 360 is notaffected by the signal of the light sensor so that in the daytime theLED lamp 350 can always be kept off. In other words, the signal III ofthe timer 360 is always accepted by the controlling circuit 330. In thetime periods of signals I, II and IV, the signal of the light sensorprecedes the signal of the timer 360, while in the time period of signalIII, the signal of the timer 360 precedes the signal of the lightsensor. The acceptability of the signals of the timer 360 by thecontrolling circuit 330 in connection with the signal of the lightsensor is listed as:

Signals Whether a signal is Whether signal of the timer is of the timerproduced by the sensor accepted by the controlling circuit I YesAccepted No Rejected II Yes Accepted No Rejected III Yes Accepted NoAccepted IV Yes Accepted No Rejected

The period of the signals I, II, IV of the timer 360 accepted by thecontrolling circuit 330 depends on a speed of the vehicle passingthrough the LED lamp 350; however, a period of 10 seconds is preferablein this disclosure for providing enough time to the vehicle. Forpreventing an interference of the light from the LED lamp 350 fromdirectly illuminating the light sensor, a shield (not shown) should bemounted around the light sensor to allow it to receive the light fromthe vehicle only. Further, such light sensor can be replaced with amovement sensor, which outputs signals when detecting an object movingunder the LED lamp 350. Moreover, every three adjacent LED lamps 350 canhave just a single sensor mounted on a corresponding LED lamp 350 sothat the three LED lamps 350 would be simultaneously controlled by thesingle sensor. Alternatively, the number of the LED lamps 350 controlledby the single sensor can be changed to four, five or more, depending ona distance between every two neighboring LED lamps 350 and a height ofeach LED lamp 350.

The LED lamp 350 used outdoors is automatically controllable forlabor-saving; nevertheless, the LED lamp used in residential environmentcan be manually controllable for more flexibility. The typicalresidential LED lamp often has a multiplex switch connected therewith toadjust its brightness with a plurality of different levels. Themultiplex switch includes multiple positions to be switched, whereineach position corresponds to a brightness level of the LED lamp. Thebrightness of the LED lamp can be conveniently switched betweendifferent levels by manipulating the multiplex switch at differentpositions; for example, when the switch is switched to a first position,a first electrical pathway would be connected to lighten the LED lampwith 100% brightness, while the switch is switched to a second position,a second electrical pathway would be connected to lighten the LED lampwith 80% brightness, and etc. However, the multiple positions of themultiplex switch require many electrical pathways connected thereto,resulting in electrical routes of the multiplex switch relativelycomplicated. Therefore, for simplifying the electrical circuits of theswitch capable of adjusting the brightness of the LED lamp, a new typeswitch and its power supply circuit are further provided herein.

Referring to FIG. 17, a time detecting circuit 380 is electricallyconnected between the controlling circuit 330 and a basic switch 370which only has two states, i.e., an “on” state and an “off” state. Thetime detecting circuit 380 can measure switching times and switchingperiods of the switch 370, thereby providing corresponding signals intothe controlling circuit 330 to lighten the LED lamp 350 at differentbrightness. For example, when the time detecting circuit 380 detects theswitch 370 just switched once from the “off” state to the “on” state, itwill produce a signal into the controlling circuit 330 to lighten theLED lamp 350 with 100% brightness; when the time detecting circuit 380detects the switch 370 switched continuously twice from the original“off” state to the “on” state, it will produce another signal to thecontrolling circuit 330 to lighten the LED lamp 350 with 80% brightness;when the time detecting circuit 380 detects the switch 370 switchedcontinuously thrice to the “on” state, it will produce still anothersignal to the controlling circuit 330 to lighten the LED lamp 350 with60% brightness, and the rest may be deduced by analogy. That is to say,the time detecting circuit 380 works under a calculation mode todecrease the brightness of the LED lamp 350 with constant 20% originalbrightness by each reconnection of the switch 370. It is noted that aperiod between a “switch off” action and a next “switch on” action ofthe switch 370 should be less than a critical period (preferably with avalue of 5 seconds), or else the next “switch off” action would berecognized by the time detecting circuit 380 as a resetting signal toreset the LED lamp 350 with 100% brightness. Alternatively, the timedetecting circuit 380 can also be designed to produce opposite signalssequentially, whereby the brightness of the LED lamp 350 would graduallyincrease according to accumulation of the switching times of the switch370. Due to application of the time detecting circuit 380 and thecontrolling circuit 330, only the basic switch 370 is required torealize the brightness-controllable function of the LED lamp 350, andthe electrical routes of the switch 370 are thus simplified without somany electrical pathways as the conventional multiplex switch requires.

In addition, for a more flexible adjusting capability, anothercalculation mode can be applied to the time detecting circuit 380. Onlywhen the time detecting circuit 380 detects the period between twoadjacent actions of the switch 370 within a rated value (such as 3seconds), the next action of the switch 370 would be admitted as acontinuous one from a previous action of the switch 370; otherwise, thenext action to the switch 370 would be recognized as a beginning of anew turn when the period is more than 3 seconds and less than 5 seconds.In this mode, the new turn would base on the final result of theprevious turn to calculate the brightness level of LED lamp achievableby the new turn, rather than decrease the brightness with the constant20% from the previous value as the previous calculation mode does. Forexample, based on that the brightness of the LED lamp 350 is originallyset to 100%, if the switch 370 has been switched twice properly toreduce the brightness to 60%, a next “switch off” action (i.e., from“on” to “off” of the switch 370 which lasts for more than the ratedperiod (3 seconds) and less than the critical period (5 seconds) wouldbe recognized as a beginning of a new turn. As the switch 370 is furtherswitched on (from “off” to “on”) once within the rated period, thebrightness of 60% would be reduced with 20% thereof to 48%. In otherwords, the new turn will base on the previous value, i.e., 60% tocalculate its brightness level. Like to the previous mode, a criticalperiod (preferably with a value of 5 seconds) should also be introducedin this mode for conveniently resetting the LED lamp 350. However, forthe switch action from “off” to “on” which lasts for a period betweenthe critical period and the rated period, such an switch action does nothave any influence on the brightness level of the LED lamp; that is tosay, this action would not be calculated but ignored by the timedetecting circuit 380. Assuming that the primary brightness of the LEDlamp 350 is 100%, and the critical period and the rated period are 5seconds and 3 seconds, respectively, some samples of the LED lamp 350 inthis mode are listed below for illustration:

Obtained LED Switch action lamp brightness off 2 s On 2 s Off 2 s on 60%off 2 s On 2 s Off 4 s on 80% off 2 s On 4 s off 2 s on 64% off 2 s On 2s Off 6 s on 100%

The time (such as 2 s, 4 s and 6 s) between two adjacent actions is theperiod that the switch 370 has spent from the pervious action (position)to the next action (position). Since the brightness is decreased inpercent in this mode, nearly unlimited illumination levels of the LEDlamp 350 can be achieved. On the other hand, for facilitating a user tojudge the rated period more easily, an LED indicator (not shown), whichis connected with the time detecting circuit 380 can be provided on theLED lamp. As soon as the switch 370 is switched, the LED indicator wouldstart to flick to show the rated period of 3 seconds, reminding the userto make the next action timely.

FIG. 18 shows detailed electrical elements included in the electricalcircuits of FIG. 17. An AC/DC convertor 600 (AC being alternatingcurrent and DC being direct current) is connected between an AC powersource (not shown) and a DC/DC convertor 601 for converting an AC fromthe AC power source to a DC to the DC/DC convertor 601. The DC/DCconvertor 601 diverges to two electrical pathways, wherein a firstelectrical pathway is directly connected to a PWM (Pulse-WidthModulation) driver 606, and a second electrical pathway is connected tothe PWM driver 606 sequentially through a power supply module 602, atrigger 603, a flip-flop 604 and a PWM controller 605. The firstelectrical pathway takes charge to supply the current into the LED lamp350 via the PWM driver 606, while the second electrical pathway takescharge to supply the current into the flip-flop 604 and the PWMcontroller 605 to energize them. Since the flip-flop 604 and the PWMcontroller 605 do not need too large current, the power supply module602 is applied to the second electrical pathway to adjust the currentwith a suitable value. The flip-flop 604 is for producing two differentleveled currents into the PWM controller 605 in accordance with the twodifferent switching states (on and off) of the trigger 603. The PWMcontroller 605 then calculates the switching times and switching periodsaccording to the leveled currents and controls the PWM driver 606 todeliver a corresponding current to the LED lamp 350. The AC powersource, the AC/DC convertor 600, the DC/DC convertor 601 and the powersupply module 602 together present the power source 310 of FIG. 17, thetrigger 603 and the flip-flop 604 cooperatively present the switch 370of FIG. 17, the PWM controller 605 simultaneously functions as thetime-detecting circuit 380 and the controlling circuit 330 of FIG. 17,and the PWM driver 606 presents the driving circuit 340 of FIG. 17.

Furthermore, such basic switch 370 can be replaced with other “specialswitches”, such as acoustical switch or touch switch, depending on theactual requirement, As shown in FIG. 19, if an acoustical sensor 390 isconnected to the time detecting circuit 380, the previous LED lamp 350will become a sound-controllable LED lamp 350 where the manualmanipulation of the basic switch 370 is substituted by a sound. Acritical value of the sound that the sensor 390 can recognize ispreferably set about 60 db, above which the sensor 390 could generate asignal to the time detecting circuit 380, or else no signal would beproduced by the sensor 390. Furthermore, for preventing an interferenceof cacophony unexceptedly, a more advanced sensor 390 called “voicesensor”, can be applied to the LED lamp 350. The voice sensor 390generates a signal only when an exact word or term which is recognizableby the sensor 390, being spoken by a user. The word or term can be setby the user voluntarily, such as “hello”, “switch on”, or else. Thetouch switch 370 can be realized by coupling a thermistor sensor 390 orlight sensor 390 with the time detecting circuit 380. The thermistorsensor 390 would be activated to produce signals if a predeterminedquantity of heat (such as the amount of heat generated by a finger of aperson) is detected thereby. The light sensor 390 is activated that onlya variation of surrounding light (such as light generated by an LEDindicator is blocked by a finger) is detected thereby. The replacementof the basic switch 370 with the various sensors 390, i.e., the soundsensor, the voice sensor, the thermistor sensor or the light sensor, canfurther render the whole mechanical structure of the switch 370 morecompact.

It is believed that the present disclosure and its advantages will beunderstood from the foregoing description, and it will be apparent thatvarious changes may be made thereto without departing from the spiritand scope of the invention or sacrificing all of its materialadvantages, the examples hereinbefore described merely being preferredor exemplary embodiments of the invention.

1. A lighting system comprising: a lamp; a power source; a switch; atime detecting circuit; a controlling circuit; and a driving circuit;wherein the lamp, the power source, the switch, the time detectingcircuit, the controlling circuit and the driving circuit areelectrically connected together; and wherein the time detecting circuitproduces different signals to the controlling circuit according toswitching times of the switch, and the lamp lightens with differentbrightness according to the different signals in the switching times. 2.The lighting system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the time detectingcircuit further detects switching periods of the switching times of theswitch, during which the lamp lightens with different brightness.
 3. Thelighting system as claimed in claim 2, wherein an action of the switchfrom “off” to “on” over a critical period resets the lamp with 100%brightness.
 4. The lighting system as claimed in claim 3, wherein thebrightness of the lamp in each of the switching times has a fixedpercent of a full brightness of the lamp.
 5. The lighting system asclaimed in claim 3, wherein an action of the switch from a previousaction extends within a rated period is recognized by the time detectingcircuit as a continuous one from the previous action in the same turn,and an action of the switch from the previous action extends longer thanthe rated period is recognized by the time detecting circuit as abeginning of a new turn.
 6. The lighting system as claimed in claim 5,wherein the brightness of the lamp is varied in percent within the sameturn which begins with a final brightness resulted by a previous turn.7. The lighting system as claimed in claim 6, wherein the brightness ofthe lamp maintains the same level when an action of the switch from“off” to “on” extends exceeding the rated period but within the criticalperiod.
 8. The lighting system as claimed in claim 5, wherein an LEDindicator is further electrically connected to the time detectingcircuit to show the rated period by flickering.
 9. The lighting systemas claimed in claim 1, wherein the power source comprises an AC/DCconvertor, a DC/DC convertor and a power supply module, the DC/DCconvertor being connected to the AC/DC convertor and having two outputroutes to provide power.
 10. The lighting system as claimed in claim 9,wherein one of the two output routes is connected to the power supplymodule, and another one of the two output routes is connected to thedriving circuit.
 11. The lighting system as claimed in claim 10, whereinthe switch comprises a trigger and a flip-flop, the trigger beingelectrically connected to the power supply circuit, and the flip-flopbeing electrically connected to the time detecting circuit.
 12. Thelighting system as claimed in claim 11, wherein the time detectingcircuit and the controlling circuit are incorporated into a PWMcontroller which electrically interconnects the flip-flop and thedriving circuit.
 13. The lighting system as claimed in claim 12, whereinthe driving circuit is a PWM driver connecting the DC/DC convertor andthe PWM controller to the lamp.
 14. The lighting system as claimed inclaim 1, wherein the switch is an acoustic sensor, a voice sensor or atouch sensor.
 15. A light system comprising: an AC/DC convertor; a DC/DCconvertor having an input route connected to the AC/DC convertor and twooutput routes; wherein one of the two output routes is connected to alamp via a PWM driver, and another one of the two output routes isconnected to the lamp through a power supply module, a trigger, aflip-flop, a PWM controller and the PWM driver; wherein the flip-flopproduces two different leveled currents according to switch of thetrigger at two positions, the PWM controller detects periods and numbersof the different leveled currents to generate corresponding signals tothe PWM driver, which drive the lamp to lighten with differentbrightness.
 16. The lighting system as claimed in claim 15, wherein thelamp is an LED lamp.
 17. The lighting system as claimed in claim 15,wherein the trigger and the flip-flop are incorporated into a sensor.